Hank's Take: Collapsing Frankford building

An abandon building in Frankford is on the verge of completely collapsing and impacting surrounding businesses and lives.

While tough to see from street view, the roof of the building on the 1300 block of Unity Street has almost fully caved in. Meanwhile, the walls of the brick structure are supported by the walls of a neighboring masonry business and two trailers.

"Really the only holding the building up right now I think is that trailer that I complained about when it originally got parked there ten years ago," said John Otto.

Otto is not the only one concerned about the structural integrity of the building. Gerry Maier, who owns a custom furniture shop across the street, says the unsightly building makes it tough for his business to professionally present itself.

"This is my second home, I live here building furniture," said Maier. "I can't even bring a customer down here because of this, so it needs to go."

The city is not unaware of this problem. On the contrary, Philadelphia's Department of License and Inspection blocked nearby Factory Street with plastic jersey barriers two years ago.

City officials say the building has failed all inspections, and they listed the property as "Imminently Dangerous" last March.

"Nobody seems to know who the property owner is or how to get a hold of him," said Otto.

According to Philadelphia's Atlas website, the property is owned by Unity LLC. A lawsuit over the crumbling property alleges that Unity LLC owner, Moshe Attais, bought the property with investor money.

Renovations that were agreed upon in the suit never happened, and the building fell deeper into disrepair.

FOX 29's attempts to reach Attias to his mansion in Huntingdon Valley were unsuccessful.

"I don't know what elese to do," said Otto. "We made calls to License and Inspection and we are getting nowhere."

As the building continues to fall, the concerns of those around the area on a regular basis only rise. Often times, properties such as this are put up for auction to be demolished by the city.

Meanwhile, locals are left to wonder what will have to happen for city officials to clean up the mess.